“Hayom showed better performances and had a higher world ranking than Tommy after the qualifying was over,” national team head coach Christian Hadinata told the Jakarta Globe.

He said Linda did as well, even though she lost in the first round of the Asian Championship in New Delhi last week. Aprilia lost in qualifying. The rest of the squad nearly picked itself. Taufik Hidayat assumed the No. 1 men’s singles role, with Sony Dwi Kuncoro at No. 2 and Simon Santoso at No. 3.

“I’m sure I can play more calmly in a high-tension match in my fourth Thomas Cup. It will be because of my experience,” Simon said.

On the women’s side, Maria Febe Kusumastuti overhauled Adriyanti Firdasari and claimed the No. 1 role by virtue of her superior ranking. Adriyanti dropped into the No. 2 spot, with Maria Kristin Yulianti at No. 3.

“They were chosen for their experience and their world ranking. We need experienced players who can overcome pressure during the finals,” Christian said.

Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan held on to their No. 1 men’s doubles spot, while Hendra Aprida was paired with partner Alvent Yulianto Chandra at No. 2.

Nova hopes he can repeat his regional success with Mohammad Ahsan on the world stage. The duo made a telling contribution as Indonesia beat Malaysia 3-2 to win the men’s team event at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games.

“It is an honor for me to play alongside Nova. He has shown his capacity as a senior player during our performance in Laos. He was able to lead me though we had not practiced together before. I hope we can do better this time,” Ahsan said.

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Thank you for visiting my blog. Through this blog I hope to share some thoughts, reproduce my writings in Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo and other publications and also to inform you about the happenings of my favorite past time - sports. You can read, but do not publish any contents with my written permission. What I have written, is to my best knowledge the truth. Mistakes do happen and I apologize if ever it does. God Bless You

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I became a journalist on 1st June 1982. Started of as a cadet reporter and then went on to be Chief Reporter, Assistant Sports Editor, Sports News Editor and finally Sports Editor before I stepped out of the news room on 1st November 2000. Been to many places, covered many games, matches and events and wrote plenty of commentaries.